Week 7 of the 2025 NFL season concludes with another epic Monday Night Football doubleheader, with the Lions hosting the Bucs and the Seahawks welcoming the Texans. It should be a fantastic night for football fans as well as fantasy football and DFS enthusiasts.
Of course, daily fantasy specialists will have options. You can play DraftKings Showdown or FanDuel single-game contests for each individual game or both games combined. Naturally, we have you covered with both formats — we prepared an optimal DK lineup for Bucs-Lions, an FD lineup for Texans-Seahawks, and our entry of choice for combined contests.
We're excited to get a win, but we know it won't be easy. The same can be said for Jared Goff and the Lions, who suffered a tough loss against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs last week and now must face a red-hot Bucs squad that currently wields the best winning percentage in the conference. Tampa will also enjoy the return of Mike Evans, although stud rookie Emeka Egbuka and running back Bucky Irving will both be sidelined.
The 4-2 Seahawks have been far less flashy, but they're pretty dang good. Sam Darnold has meshed with Jaxon Smith-Njigba from the jump, helping Seattle to one of the five highest-scoring starts of the young season. But Houston also has playmakers in C.J. Stroud and Nico Collins, and the Texans D has quietly been one of the most stifling in the NFL.
We can't wait for these two matchups, and for that matter we can't wait to win some daily fantasy cash. Let's shine a light on the best DFS studs, sleepers and value plays for the Monday Night Football doubleheader, including each individual matchup and a combined tournament entry.
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Bucs vs. Lions NFL DFS picks: Optimal DraftKings Showdown lineup
➕ Sign up for DraftKings to play Showdown cash and GPP contests.
Before we get into our lineup and strategy, here are the key scoring settings for DraftKings Showdown contests:
They're full-point PPR, and they feature three-point bonuses for 300 passing yards, 100 rushing yards, and 100 receiving yards. The Captain pick costs 1.5 times a player's original price, but he also gets his point total multiplied by 1.5.
POS PLAYER TEAM/OPP SALARY
Captain Jahmyr Gibbs, RB Lions vs. TB $15,600
FLEX Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR Lions vs. TB $11,200
FLEX Jared Goff, QB Lions vs. TB $10,000
FLEX Sterling Shepard, WR Bucs at DET $6,400
FLEX Tez Johnson, WR Bucs at DET $4,600
FLEX Isaac TeSlaa, WR Lions vs. TB $2,000
We typically want the best PPR player in the game to reside in our Captain spot, so Gibbs felt like a no-brainer against Tampa's below-average run D. Goff and St. Brown also felt like a no-brainer stack, as the Bucs have given up the seventh-most DK points to the QB and ARSB is matchup-proof.
Shepard and Johnson should both continue to enjoy their newfound usage rates, since Chris Godwin, Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan will all be absent from this one. Mike Evans returns from his extended absence on Monday, but we would be surprised if he plays 100 percent of snaps.
With only $2,200 remaining for our final flex spot, TeSlaa felt like an easy dart-throw of a call. The rookie has made some magnificent highlight-reel catches this season, so maybe he has another trick up his sleeve for this primetime party of an NFC shootout.
MORE: How to play DFS
Texans vs. Seahawks NFL DFS picks: Optimal FanDuel single-game lineup
➕ Sign up for FanDuel to play cash and GPP single-game contests.
Here are the key scoring settings for FanDuel single-game tournaments: They're half-point PPR with three-point bonuses for 300 passing yards, 100 rushing yards, or 100 receiving yards.
The MVP pick multiplies that player's total by 1.5 and, for the first time, the MVP pick also costs 1.5 times that player's salary.
POS PLAYER TEAM/OPP SALARY
MVP Nico Collins, WR Texans @ SEA $18,000
FLEX Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR Seahawks vs. HOU $13,200
FLEX C.J. Stroud, QB Texans @ SEA $11,600
FLEX Nick Chubb, RB Texans @ SEA $8,400
FLEX Cooper Kupp, WR Seahawks vs. HOU $5,800
FLEX Dameon Pierce, RB Texans @ SEA $3,000
Our FanDuel lineup used every last dollar, and we're excited to get a red-hot Collins in the MVP spot and breakout superstar Smith-Njigba in our first flex slot.
Stroud also feels like a strong buy at $11.6K. He's coming off a bye week, and the last time we saw him was his dominant performance in the Texans' 44-10 win over Baltimore (23-27, 244 pass. yards, 4 TDs, 30 rush. yards).
Chubb has a low ceiling, but we like his floor better than rookie running mate Woody Marks. The veteran has enjoyed 12-plus opportunities in all five games this season, he's averaging 50 rushing yards per game, and he scored a TD in Houston's last game.
Kupp might be a shell of what he once was as an NFL receiver, but he's still serviceable at this price range. If Derek Stingley shadows JSN, Kupp could be the beneficiary of many of Sam Darnold's second reads. Maybe the vet is energized off the extra day of rest.
Pierce was a no-brainer with our last remaining $3,000, as he actually had seven carries in the Texans' victory over the Ravens. It's unlikely he will net us many points, if any, but we probably won't win or lose any tournaments because of him.
NFL DFS picks: Optimal DraftKings Classic lineup for Bucs-Lions, Texans-Seahawks combined contests
➕ Sign up for DraftKings to play Classic contests
In salary cap contests, each Classic lineup will have one QB, two RBs, three WRs, a TE, a FLEX and a D/ST. Like the Showdown Contests, they're full-point PPR, and they feature three-point bonuses for 300 passing yards, 100 rushing yards, and 100 receiving yards.
POS PLAYER TEAM/OPP SALARY
QB Jared Goff Lions vs. TB $6,000
RB Jahmyr Gibbs Lions vs. TB $7,500
RB David Montgomery Lions vs. TB $5,500
WR Nico Collins Texans @ SEA $7,100
WR Mike Evans Bucs @ DET $6,500
WR Sterling Shepard Bucs @ DET $4,500
TE Sam LaPorta Lions vs. TB $4,300
FLEX Nick Chubb Texans @ SEA $5,000
DST Detroit Lions vs. TB $3,100
The success of this lineup obviously hinges on the Lions' ability to knock around a banged-up Buccaneers squad. Detroit had been the hottest team in the NFL before stalling out against the Chiefs last week, and we expect Goff and company to bounce back nicely.
We should have most of the touchdowns covered between Goff, Gibbs, Montgomery, LaPorta and the D/ST! Sometimes you just have to follow your instincts, and our instincts here tell us that Detroit will enjoy more success than the other three MNF squads.
Our projected game script for that game also tells us that Baker Mayfield and his wideouts will be busy trying to get back into it. That means lots of targets for Mike Evans with stud rookie Emeka Egbuka and veterans Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan both out.